The following walk reports may include locations subject to restricted access. It may not be open to the public and you would not be authorised to visit the location without approval of the landowner. Our walking groups obtain permission where required for these walks.
Leader - John Total Distance: - 6.0k Walkers – Sue, Paul, Helen & Grahame, John
Leaving cars by the Hartley Rd letter box we walked to the Eastern end of the road where the delightful cliff walk begins, and followed the path, making a left turn at Caryyota Court, and crossing a wooden bridge to reach Licuala Drive.
There we turned right to Esme Park, where we walked the little circuits. We returned to the cars by the same route. This time we left the cars at the Macdonald NP and walked through it to the Botanic Gardens, which we agreed had never looked better, and saw a new attraction, the Cascades Walk.
A short road walk brought us to the Ohia Reserve and Land Care’s new circuit, which follows the creek at one point and offers views across the valley at another. The total walk was shorter than advertised (6 km) but varied and enjoyable. We dallied over food and drink at John and June’s house - John.
Why does attentiveness to nature matter? In a very fundamental sense, we are what we pay attention to. Paying heed to beauty, grace, and everyday miracles promotes a sense of possibility and coherence that runs deeper and truer than the often illusory commercial, social "realities" advanced by mainstream contemporary culture. ... Our attention is precious, and what we choose to focus it on has enormous consequences. What we choose to look at, and to listen to--these choices change the world. As Thich Nhat Hanh has pointed out, we become the bad television programs that we watch. A society that expends its energies tracking the latest doings of the celebrity couple is fundamentally distinct from one that watches for the first arriving spring migrant birds, or takes a weekend to check out insects in a mountain stream, or looks inside flowers to admire the marvelous ingenuities involved in pollination. The former tends to drag culture down to its lowest commonalities; the latter can lift us up in a sense of unity with all life. The Way of Natural History, edited by Thomas Lowe Fleischner and published by Trinity University Press (Texas)
